Tough sledding: Bills’ snow day is a winner
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. >> The snow sure suits Shady.
LeSean McCoy scored on a 21-yard run with 1:33 left in overtime to secure the Buffalo Bills’ 13-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in a wintry, white-out setting best suited for snow shoes and sled dogs.
Mush!
He finished with 156 yards rushing, a careerbest in his two-plus seasons in Buffalo. And it came nearly four years to the day the former Philadelphia running back set the Eagles franchise record with 217 yards rushing, also in a snowstorm.
“Now, I’m no expert at it,” he said. “I just run how I feel. And that’s what I did today.”
McCoy’s touchdown led to the Bills’ sideline erupting in celebration. Some players ran on the field to make snow angels . Others playfully engaged in snowball fights.
And then there was McCoy, who was mobbed by numerous teammates in the corner of the stands, where fans tossed up handfuls of snow as if it was confetti.
“Buffalo weather, right?” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I’ve
been part of some wind and some rain games. I think we had all but sun today.”
There was even a dose of “thunder snow,” a meteorological event that occasionally accompanies lake-effect enhanced snowstorm. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed early in the third quarter, but the game was not stopped.
As much as two feet of snow was in the forecast when the storm hit about 90 minutes before kickoff. Within an hour, the flakes fell so fast that fans sitting in New Era Field’s east-end stands were unable to make out the large video scoreboard directly across from them.
Punted balls stuck in the snow. Colts receiver Chester Rogers disappeared into a snowbank in the end zone after being
unable to stop on a deep pass from Jacoby Brissett. Rogers made the catch, but couldn’t keep both feet inbounds.
A parade of stadium workers regularly made their way on the field with snow blowers on their backs to uncover the yard lines.
So much snow accumulated on the roof of the first-level suites that fans began building snowmen.
Mother Nature played havoc with any semblance of a game plan, leaving both teams to lean heavily on their running attacks.
The Colts were led by Frank Gore, who finished with 130 yards rushing on a career-high 36 carries.
Buffalo (7-6) stayed alive in the AFC playoff picture, while the Colts (310) were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.